Nobody Else
by livingIngray
Summary: When Draco agreed to take the polyjuice potion in order to pretend to be Ron Weasley he didn't think he would have to be dealing with the mudblood Granger who was clearly in love with the Weasel. Bugger.
1. The Chosen One

Nobody Else

Pairing: Draco/Hermione

Setting: Pre Battle of the Seven Harry Potters, Deathly Hallows era

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series, though I wish I did like many others. Maybe if I build a time machine I can go back in time and write the series jk :P Enjoy.

Summary: When Draco agreed to take the polyjuice potion in order to pretend to be Ron Weasley he didn't think he would have to be dealing with the mudblood Granger who was clearly in love with the Weasel. Bugger.

The Dark Lord turned and looked at his new capture in distaste. Blood was splattered all over his face clashing with his bright red hair. Voldemort did nothing to hide his disgust while he sneered at the young Weasley who was currently unconscious and being held by the two Death Eaters.

"We did as you asked My Lord," spoke the thin man known as Rabastan Lestrange. It was obvious the years in Azkaban had not been kind to him for he was dangerously thin and pale from the dark closed-in jail cell. The other Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy, unsurprisingly remained quiet at Rabastan's side while keeping a loose grip on the Muggle lover Weasley as if the beliefs of the young child would possibly rub off on him if he got too close. Lucius had already gotten up close and personal with the Dark Lord's anger and figured at this moment not saying a word was probably the best.

"You two may leave the boy and go," replied the Dark Lord, and the two Death Eaters dropped their hold on the young Weasley and turned to leave the room. Lucius breathed a sigh of relief as he always did whenever he was about to leave the Dark Lord's presence.

Lucius froze as the raspy voice of the Dark Lord commanded him to not leave the room.

"Wait, Lucius."

Lucius turned and plastered on a nervous smile while thinking of all the things he could have possibly done wrong in the last 3 minutes. Maybe he had been too quiet. Or not quiet enough.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Bring me your son."

Those words shocked Lucius as he stuttered out "M-my son, my Lord? Wha-I mean, why do you need him, he is but a child." At this the Dark Lord glared at Lucius with a look of pure disdain that he usually reserved for Muggles and Mudbloods.

"You dare question me! Just bring me the boy." Lucius nodded frantically while repeatedly stuttering 'yes, my Lord' and opening and closing his mouth like a dying fish. The pitiful sight before him made Voldemort want to sigh but sighing was such a Muggle action and he had a reputation to uphold so he choose an even harsher glare instead which rushed the silver haired Death Eater out of the room.

With Lucius gone Voldemort turned to the young boy laying on the floor. His body was twisted at an awkward angle and his face was flat on the cold concrete. Voldemort silently chuckled at seeing the boy in such a state and smiled a slightly crooked smile which looked awkward due to the fact he had no nose and smiling, though in dark amusement, was not something he was used to.

"You wanted me, My Lord?"

Voldemort turned to look at the newest occupant to the room, the son of Lucius Malfoy. Draco stood straight with his short silver hair hanging all over his face. He had a guarded look on his face and a slight grimace at the pungent smell of blood in the room emitting from the body on the floor. Draco glanced at the body and was surprised to see the shocking red hair characterized by the Weasley family. Though the face was blocked from his sight he guessed by the stature it had to be the Weasel laying on the floor. He turned back to Voldemort who was staring at him passively with that same look of amusement he saw earlier when he came into the room.

Voldemort smirked slightly as he asked "Now, my dear Draco, how familiar are you with the Polyjuice Potion?"

It was going to be a long night.

Draco stared in the mirror and winced at seeing the image staring before him. Bright red hair with freckles splattered across his nose. Blue eyes shining back at him instead of his normal grey ones. Draco suddenly had a sense of longing for his actual appearance; he missed his blond silver-esque hair, his grey eyes and pale skin. His appearance was what made him who he was. He then promptly glared at the face in the mirror staring back at him..._the Weasel's face, which was now __**his face**__. _Draco thought the Dark Lord's plan was mad, completely mad...dear Merlin how the hell was he supposed to pretend to be Ronald Weasley, the slimy weasel, the best friend of Harry Potter and that Mudblood. Draco turned from the mirror and slumped against the wall of his room as he recounted the earlier conversation he had with the Dark Lord before taking the horrible tasting Polyjuice Potion.

"_You want me to do what my Lord?" _

"_Boy, you aren't deaf. You heard me. I want you to take the Polyjuice Potion to assume the appearance of the young boy."_

_Draco blinked multiple times and had the sudden urge to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming but he resisted because his dreams never consisted of such madness as this. His dreams usually consisted of him torturing that bloody Saint Potter or him being tortured himself. He stared at the Dark Lord in silent disbelief to see Voldemort glaring back at him. Draco sighed and thought he might as well go along with this if he wanted to survive this crazy loon then flinched as he saw Voldemort's glare grow harsher as if he just heard the thought that fluttered through Draco's head. _

"_I shall explain in more detail so you understand," said Voldemort in a way that adults spoke to toddlers. "Now, you are to take to drink this Polyjuice Potion which will allow you to take the form of the Muggle lover Weasley. I shall then bring you to the place the boy was captured so you may be found by Harry Potter and his blood traitor friends. Then you must pretend to be the boy for a month and find out all of Potter's secrets and then bring back all the new information you will gather about their plans, secret hideouts, and any other important information to me after the month is over, do you understand?" _

_Draco nodded his assent in order to not bring out the Dark Lord's anger. Draco still however had some questions which he decided to voice to the Dark Lord. "My Lord, how am I supposed to pretend to be the Weasel? I don't know half the things he knows about Potter and also doesn't the Polyjuice Potion work only for a short while?" _

"_For how to go about being the boy, that is up to you. I suggest faking amnesia of some sort but whatever you choose to do you better not fail me Draco! As for the Polyjuice Potion the more of it you take the longer the effects. I prepared enough of the potion just for this occasion. You are to take enough of it every day so the effect lasts for a whole day and the next morning you are to take some again." _

_Draco nodded again though inwardly he was grimacing at the thought of having to take the Polyjuice Potion every morning. It was well known around the wizarding world that the Polyjuice Potion tasted like goblin piss and the process of turning into the person hurts like hell. But voicing these thoughts to the Dark Lord would only get him killed so he stayed silent. _

"_Any more questions, Draco?" Voldemort asked in his raspy icy voice that pulled Draco from his thoughts. _

_Draco coughed softly before stuttering out, "I have one, um, my Lord, what exactly happens to the Weasel while I'm gone?". Draco immediately regretted his question because the Dark Lord was staring at him as if he was the slowest and stupidest wizard on the planet though currently he probably was the stupidest wizard in this room, even stupider than the unconscious weasel. Surprisingly, the Dark Lord answered his question in a non angry tone which scared Draco even more than his angry one. _

"_He stays here of course, he shall stay alive until the month is over then he shall be killed."_

_Draco nodded once again. All this nodding was probably damaging his poor neck though his physical state would not matter much since he was going to be assuming the appearance of the Weasel. Draco sighed and wondered how he was going to explain this to his parents or to Pansy; if he was even allowed to explain anything them. He guessed it was all for the best knowing his mom would unnecessarily worry and his father would just give him a big speech about not disappointing the Dark Lord and he had already had enough of those. He certainly did not want to think about Pansy's reaction for he knew it might even be worse than his parents', Pansy; his best friend and ex-girlfriend hated Potter and the Weasleys as much as he did and surely she would object to him pretending to be one. Draco sighed out his frustrations at this situation then wondered why the Dark Lord picked him...why him...the question seemed like it did not have a clear answer until it came to him. There was no one else who could do this **but him. **He was the only Death Eater to have the most contact with Potter and the rest due to attending school with them and Crabbe and Goyle, those two blundering idiots, certainly were not capable of the task. And neither was Pansy who wanted nothing to do with the war herself and would probably want to stay home and shop with her mother and pretend all was right with the world instead of undergo the mission Draco was about to undertake. So he was the only one left. _

_Bugger. _

Draco suddenly stood up straight and decided this was it and there was no turning back. He glanced back in the mirror and smirked to himself. Well, he smirked with the Weasley's face. He looked down at the bloody clothes that he took off the Weasel in order to look the part. If he returned with no blood on him then the idiots would probably think he slayed, well Weasley slayed or escaped the Death Eaters all on his own and he certainly did not want them thinking the Weasel was that smart. Draco scoffed at himself - why did he care what everyone thought about the Weasel anyway? He was going to die in a month. A thought just entered Draco's head and suddenly the fact that he had to pretend to be the Weasel did not seem so bad.

Hermione paced back and forth across the small cluttered room inside the Burrow that belonged to Ron. The smell inside the room was terrible, probably because Ron, that unorganized sloppy git, did not think to clean his room or throw out the random half-filled butterbeer bottles all over his room's floor. She remembered his excuse to be something like "_God Hermione, we are in the middle of a war and you want me to clean my room? Is this a Muggle thing?" _Hermione suddenly laughed out loud and to anyone who walked into the room at that moment would suddenly think she was crazy. The smell, the unorganized room, the random butterbeer bottles, she did not care about any of those thing because it was all _Ron._ Everything in this room was him, everywhere she looked it was like he was there with her and then all of a sudden she felt very lonely. Ron, he was gone, gone where she did not know. She didn't even know if he was alive.

The thought made Hermione feel weak at the knees and she collapsed on the ground with a sob while holding one of Ron's old shirts. Hermione silently prayed that Ron was okay and that he would be back soon. And when he came back she would slap that insufferable git for leaving her alone and pathetic like this. _God she missed him. _So lost in her thoughts she did not hear the loud running of someone up the stairs.

"Hermione! Ron is back, Ron is here!"

Hermione glanced up at the door to see Ginny out of breath with a wide smile on her face.

"Didn't you hear me, Ron is back! He's downstairs with Harry and the rest," said Ginny hurriedly who then began dragging Hermione down the stairs and to the entrance of the Burrow. Hermione suddenly spotted the tell tale sign of red hair among the other redheads, though this red hair was different, the red hair most definitely belonged to her Ron. Without a second thought she ran towards the redhead forgetting only minutes ago that she had told herself that she was going to smack him across the face when he returned. She tightly squeezed Ron in a hug and missed the panicked look Ron had given her as she ran towards him and probably would have disregarded it as Ron being scared that she was going to hurt him. She pulled Ron's chest towards her face as she breathed "Ron, you're home."

And if Hermione at that moment could read minds, she would have heard, "Goddamnit why is Granger hugging me? This is not what I signed up for."

It was a good thing Hermione was not a mind reader.

**A/N: Hey you guys! Chapter one of my first fic, reviews of any kind would be gladly appreciated. Any criticism is welcome. Enjoy the summer!**


	2. Surprise

Nobody Else  
Pairing: Draco/Hermione  
Setting: Pre Battle of the Seven Harry Potters, Deathly Hallows era  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series, but man I wish I did :(.  
**A/N: Whenever the story is in another person's pov I will use Ron's name and not Draco's name. Hope you guys don't get confused :)**

Chapter 2

The Weasleys liked to hug. Actually, that was an understatement - the Weasleys loved hugging as much as Bellatrix loved torturing non pure bloods. And poor Draco, one who wasn't used to hugs, certainly did not like all the attention he was getting. Usually for Draco attention was a good thing, whether it came from his father when he got good marks in school or made Voldemort happy which in turn made his father happy. Or when it came from the many pure blood witches that would stare or clamp down onto his arm during one of his mother's stupid social parties and blab nonsense about how good looking he was. Yes, Draco loved attention. He craved it. But at the moment he wished he was anywhere else but here. Draco was sitting down at the Weasley table with all eyes staring at him and all of them were blabbing a 100 words per minute. Even Granger's bloody cat was staring at him. Draco sighed. Even when he was in the form of the Weasel he still got attention. Sometimes it was so hard being a Malfoy.

"Ron, are you alright? You haven't touched your bacon sandwich. Bacon is your favorite, are you sure you aren't sick, Ronald?"

Draco twitched slightly, he didn't want to eat the bloody sandwich. All he really wanted was an apple. Particularly a green apple but the Weasel probably didn't eat many fruits so Draco kept his thoughts to himself and instead declared that he was not hungry. Apparently this was the wrong thing to say because all conversation at the Weasley table halted and now along with the staring there was also gaping mouths.

"Ron, are you sure you aren't sick?" asked Hermione as she reached her hand forward and placed it on his forward and for a second when her hand made contact Draco thought maybe he was indeed sick. Maybe his father was right all along about contracting diseases if he was touched by non pure blood witches.

"Oh our poor brother is sick, you know Fred, I think we have just to thing to cure our brother, don't you think?"

"Now now George, I don't think our dear Ronniekins will be able to handle it," said Fred in a teasing tone. Draco just stared in confusion as Hermione just rolled her eyes and the female Weasel giggled. What a strange family, and he thought his family was strange...the Weasleys certainly would win the award for most insane.

"The cat surely hasn't gotten your tongue has it, Ron?

"Of course not Fred, the only cat in the premises is the lovely Crookshanks and he certainly doesn't seem to be in the tongue grabbing mood," replied George to his brother Fred.

Draco didn't know how to respond to this and instead rolled his eyes at the twin's strange antics. Draco glanced around the table and noticed surprisingly that Potter was absent. The one person he happened to need information from was not present. His luck was stupendous. Now that he thought about it Potter had stayed away from him the whole evening. He only received a hug and a "I'm glad you're back" from the scarface. How strange he thought. Weren't Ron and Harry supposed to be friends. Draco turned to Hermione and asked, "Where is Pot-uh I mean Harry?"

"Oh, Harry is probably in your room. Hm, strange that he isn't here now that I think about it."

So Harry was in Ron's room. Wherever Ron's room was. And Draco didn't feel the need to ask as it would raise suspicions. Draco got up from the table and immediately several members of the Weasley family including Hermione got up along with him. Draco pinched his leg hard to keep himself from yelling at them to leave him alone. Draco turned and faced the eyes staring at him, well at the Weasel's face, and said, "I just uh want to be alone for a bit, to um talk to Harry."

"Of course you can dearie, do you need help going up the stairs?," Mrs. Weasley asked with a concerned tone on her face.

Ah so Ron's room was located on a higher floor. Draco thought it would be best to ask for assistance going up the stairs in order to follow behind them to his room. But that meant asking these blood traitors for help. And Draco was a Malfoy. And Malfoys didn't ask for help. So Draco put a strained smile on his face and said "No thanks, Mrs. Weasley." Then he left the kitchen to journey up the stairs. If he had turned around at that moment he would have noticed the confused looks on everyone's faces.

"Mum, did he just call you Mrs. Weasley?"  
"You must be getting old, Mum."  
"Shut up, you two."

So far Draco had checked the rooms on each floor to determine if it was Ron's room. Since Harry didn't occupy any of them Draco probably did not find the right room yet. Until finally he reached the fifth floor and he saw a room with the door slightly ajar. Draco peeked in to see a very small room with an equally as tiny bed. And on that bed laid Harry Potter with his hair very disheveled and if you looked closely you could see the lightning shaped scar peeking from underneath his hair on his forehead. Draco felt awkward just staring at the boy knowing that he could easily kill him right then and there. But of course the murder of Harry Potter would be saved for the Dark Lord and to kill Harry Potter now would only ignite the anger of the Dark Lord and the rest of the Weasley family downstairs. So Draco instead settling for clearing his throat really loudly in hopes of waking Potter and not feeling anymore awkward and out of place.

Harry woke up at the sound and almost hit his head on the corner of the ceiling. Harry tried to brush his hair into a more organized fashion but gave up after seeing his hair could not be tamed. He fumbled on the drawer next to the bed for his glasses and quickly put them on in order to see more clearly. He glanced up to see Ron awkwardly standing at the entrance to his own room and his eyes were flitting all around the room awkwardly and with a look of disgust in those blue eyes. What Ron would be looking disgustedly at Harry did not know and choose not to pry. Ron finally settled his eyes on him and with a weird smile said, "So Harry how are things?"

Ron had just been captured by Death Eaters. Possibly tormented. Possibly he even met Voldemort. And he was asking him "how are things?". Harry scoffed at the absurdity of the question.

"How are things Ron? Well my best friend had been captured by Death Eaters no thanks to me. I couldn't do anything to get you back. And I couldn't even comfort Hermione or Ginny who were worried sick about you. I feel positively sick because my friends are always getting hurt because of me. Because I'm supposedly this 'Chosen One' which is a name I never asked for, a name I never wanted for myself, a name I wouldn't wish on anyone. Ron, I don't want to lose you, you are the best friend anyone could ask for and if there was anyone I trust it would be you."

The feeling hit Draco very quickly and he didn't know how to really explain it but he felt like he had been punched in the gut and the fist was just resting there. Draco had never felt much guilt before. He certainly didn't feel guilty when he blamed Dobby for ruining his father's parchments when he was 10. Certainly not when he called Granger a mudblood and he heard from Pansy through the school gossip that Granger had spent the afternoon crying in the bathroom. The only time he had ever felt guilt was when he was too cowardly to kill Dumbledore himself and Snape was forced to do it. The disappointment in his father's eyes and the sadness in his mother's face had intensified that guilt. That was understandable because they were his parents and they could easily make him feel guilty. But this person in front of him was Potter, certainly not someone he should be feeling guilty about. Why should he? He was doing this for the Dark Lord, to ensure a bright future for all purebloods. What he was doing was right and moral because the ends always justified the means. That's what his father taught him and his father was always right. So Draco pushed the guilt away with the thought set in his mind and he lifted his lips, in what he hoped was a good smile, at Harry and said, "Harry you won't ever lose me. I'll always be here for you." Harry smiled even wider at the boy and got up off the bed to walk towards Ron and pull his friend in a hug. Ron released a strangled grunt but Harry didn't think too much about it.

Draco wasn't sure what he should do with his arms. So he just lay them there at his sides while Potter hugged him. Five, Four, Three-yes finally it was over. Potter released his arms from around Draco's back and patted him on the back then stepped away from him.

"Ron are you ok? You look constipated."

"I'm-fine."

"There you guys are!"

The two turned around to see Hermione at the entrance to the small room. Hermione was beaming at them and Draco had never seen her so happy. It was pretty unnerving.

"Did you want something Hermione?," asked Harry with a tilt of his had in inquiry as to why she seemed to want their presence.

"I uh kinda wanted to speak to Ron."

Draco grimaced slightly, what was with these people. First it was all the hugs then the heartfelt talks. What could possibly be next?

Harry nodded his assent at Hermione and left the room but not before giving her a wink that she did not miss. Her cheeks colored a dark red and she bit her lip to control the flush to her cheeks. Hermione cleared her throat loudly and Draco flinched at the sound. Crap she probably knew who he was. She was going to kill him, with no one around. He was going to die in this room. In the room that belonged to the Weasel. No one would even know what happened to him. He could just imagine when the Dark Lord delivered the news.

"_Your son was killed by the dirty mudblood."_

"_What a disgrace, I always knew that boy wasn't fit to be a wizard. It's a good thing that mudblood got rid of him. Theodore how would you feel becoming our new son?," said Lucius to the tall pale black haired boy. _

"_Of course Sir, I would be honored to be your son. And I promise you I won't disgrace you like pathetic Draco did. I hope I can live up to your expectations." replied Theodore. _

"_Oh oh dear, you already have. You certainly have already exceeded Draco in looks. You are way more handsome and the young witches always told me they secretly fancied you. You have also exceeded him in intelligence, what smart wizard would get killed by some mudblood? Certainly not you Theodore. I'm so excited to have you as my son," said Narcissa with a smile and she walked forward to hug the boy. _

God that was terrible. Draco reached into his pocket and clutched his wand, just in case the mudblood tried anything funny.

"Now Ron I have been thinking about your question."

"My what?"

"You don't remember?," asked Hermione with a gasp and her eyes looked about ready to tear.

"Ah yes! That question of course I remember."

"Good because in response to your question I'm going to say yes."

"Ok, is that all?"

"You wanted more?"

"If that's all then that is fine but I think we should seal this with something to remember the moment with," replied Draco tentatively. His thoughts was fluttering at a mile a minute. Trying to determine what Granger could possibly be talking about it. He had said they should seal it with something in hopes she would provide him with a clue to what was going on. Draco shook his head out of his thoughts and focused on Hermione to notice that her cheeks were a dark red. What could she possibly be blushing for? She was certainly strange, stranger than any other girl he had encountered. Then again she spent her time in the company of the _Weasley Family_so no wonder the girl was a little messed up.

Hermione had begun to walk closer and closer to Draco with her hands behind her back and her teeth biting her lip. The look in her eyes made Draco take a tentative step backwards and a crunch sounded through the room and Draco figured he stepped on a food of some sort. Didn't the Weasel have the dignity to clean his own room? Granger had continued walking closer and closer to him. While Draco continued taking steps back until he was backed against the wall of the room. Draco's breathing was coming out in fast pants and he couldn't understand why he was reacting this way. He wasn't scared of Granger. He was taller and smarter. He could handle her. And he once more checked to see if his wand was still in his pocket and gripped it. But of course the wand can't defend against everything. Because there was certainly no spell in the world that could defend Draco against Hermione's lips pressing on his.

Ron's lips were softer than she imagined they would be. Hermione sighed into the kiss and readjusted her mouth against Ron's lips. Ron slipped his hands around her body to settle on her waist. Yes this was exactly the feeling Hermione had dreamed of. Ron's hands on her waist, his soft lips yielding to her own. Of course she also thought an "I love you" would be slipped in there somewhere but that could always come later. There was no need to rush. Then all of a sudden Hermione was pushed away and she fell backwards and landed on the floor of Ron's room. Hermione glanced up to see Ron's face tinged pink and he was breathing heavily.

"Stay away from me you disgusting mudblood," Ron uttered to her in a low whisper. Ron stormed out of the room and she heard his footsteps go down the stairs. Hermione lay down on the floor until her breathing settled into a normal rhythm. Then the tears came, at first only one tear flowed out of her right eye and it ran all the way down her face. It ran over the lips that had just touched Ron's until it dripped off her chin. Then the other tears flowed along with it. Hermione was confused; wasn't Ron the one who had asked her to be his girlfriend before he left? And she had been reluctant in her response because she knew if she chose to be Ron's girlfriend she could not go back. Ron was her closest friend along with Harry, choosing to be with Ron would probably mean choosing to be with Ron forever. And she wasn't even sure that was what she wanted. But when she had found out Ron had been kidnapped by Death Eaters, her heart had ached for days. And nothing she did could stop it from aching. It wasn't until she had saw that Ron had returned safe and sound the ache had stopped. And at that moment she had decided that she didn't want to lose Ron because she loved him.

Hermione got up on her knees and slowly crawled to Ron's bed. She got up onto the bed and there she curled into a ball and finally allowed all the tears to flow out. She was stupid. She always had been. Sure people called her the brightest witch of her age but what did that mean if she couldn't even figure out why Ron had shunned her. Ron her best friend, someone who she believed looked past differences in blood. What had changed from then until now? Hermione hiccuped and raised a shaking hand to try and wipe some of her tears away. The Ron who had asked her to be his girlfriend, that was _her Ron. _The Ron she just kissed that was certainly not her Ron. Ron would never call her such names, Ron wouldn't have shoved her like that. Hermione was beginning to develop a headache while thinking these confusing thoughts so she decided to just let sleep overcome her.

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter ^^. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter I appreciate you guys taking the time to review. For any criticism or anything that was confusing please review or pm me any questions. Until next time ^^. **


	3. Suspicion

Chapter 3

Pairing: Draco/Hermione

Setting: Pre Battle of the Seven Harry Potters, Deathly Hallows era

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series :(. JKR got to it first.

**A/N: I'm kicking off the story in the actual Ron's pov. And this will be in italics. After that the Ron I mention will be Draco.**

_Ron tried to lift his head off the cold pavement. However his efforts were useless and his body fell back down on the cold floor. Ron tilted his head at the sound of his prison door opening. His vision was blurry though it didn't matter because all he could see where the boots of the figure who entered his cell._

"_Eat this blood traitor," said a voice that Ron did not recognize but he knew it had to be one of the many Death Eaters in this castle. The boot wearing figure left the jail cell and slammed the door. Ron saw the foot only mere inches away from his head; his stomach growled very loudly and Ron gritted his teeth to try and alleviate the pain of his stomach and his headache. Ron wasn't stupid enough to eat any of the food these stupid Death Eaters offered him. He would rather die a blood traitor, a martyr, a follower of Dumbledore then stoop so low as to eat food from the Death Eaters. Ron knew that if he didn't eat something eventually he would surely die but he decided not to dwell on that because soon Harry and Hermione would be here to save him. His two closest friends in the world would not leave him here abandoned. Harry was probably already on his way with the whole Weasley family in tow. And Hermione. Lovely Hermione. She was probably worried sick about him and Ron's heart clenched at the thought of making her worried and hurt. Soon he would see Hermione again. Her sparkling brown eyes, her bushy brown hair that he had grown to love, and her special smile that she only directed to him. The growling of Ron's stomach interrupted his thoughts and he gritted his teeth even harder. He had to do this if he wanted to see Hermione again._

_Ron heard footsteps coming again to his cell, these footsteps sounded lighter than the heavy steps from earlier. His cell door opened and he glanced up slightly to see a pair of black heels. Ron froze at the knowledge that the new entry in his cell was a female. The only female Death Eater he knew was Bellatrix. And if Bellatrix was here in his cell then his future didn't look too bright._

"_How very pathetic Weasley," uttered a snide voice. Ron blinked and tried to clear his muddled mind. Weasley? Why would Bellatrix call him Weasley. And the voice didn't quite sound like Bellatrix, sure it held the same malice, but the voice sounded younger and less, well, crazy. Ron couldn't think at all because of his pounding headache and his empty stomach._

"_I've been in charge of taking care of your pathetic self, hope you're grateful. Seriously why do I always get the mundane tasks? Taking care of a pathetic wimp like you. Draco always gets to have all the fun," said the same voice again. It almost sounded like she was pouting towards the end. And Draco? What did he have to do with anything? Ron was tired of holding up his head to see his visitor so he laid his head back down on the cold floor. He struggled to keep his eyes open but they closed anyway against his will. Before his eyes fully closed he felt someone's breath against his face and a whisper of "You better thank me for this later, Weasley."_

* * *

Hermione stared up at the ceiling of Ron's bedroom. What had she been thinking earlier? Of course now was not the time for romance, this was a time of war. Hermione had cried many times when she was younger mostly due to Ron for causing her unnecessary heartache and teasing her because of how smart she was. Also Malfoy had caused her to cry on occasions due to his hurtful taunts about her blood status. But that was when she was younger. She was much older now and more mature. Yet minutes ago she was here crying over Ron rejecting her kiss when people were out there dying every day by Death Eaters. Hermione sat up in Ron's bed. She would show Ron that she didn't need him. She was Hermione Granger. The brightest witch of her age and she surely did not need any guy to make her feel better. Especially a guy that stooped as low as to call her a mudblood. Ron had never called her that before and Hermione was confused as to why he would start now. Well when she saw Ron the next time she would confront him about it. Hermione got off of Ron's bed and left his room with confidence in her walk. Hermione walked down the stairs to the first floor where Ginny's room was located. Hermione spotted the small door decorated with Ginny's favorite Quidditch teams. Hermione glanced at the poster to see one of the Quidditch players waving at her fans as she flew around on a broom. The happiness in the player's face made Hermione smile as she opened the door to Ginny's room. Inside was Ginny on her bed sitting down and reading a magazine. Ginny's room was painted pink and decorated with even more posters than on her outside door. Ginny looked up at Hermione entering the room and smiled at her friend.

"Hello Hermione are you ready for bed?"

"I am but I was hoping we could talk."

"Talk about what?" asked Ginny with a knowing look on her face. Because she knew it would be about Ron. It always was.

Hermione sighed. "Your brother, why is he such a git?"

Ginny giggled at the question. "For the 15 years I have known my brother, I have yet to know the answer to that question. What did my sad excuse of a brother do now?"

"I kind of kissed him and well he kind of pushed me away," said Hermione awkwardly and slowly. She watched as Ginny's brown eyes bulged out at what she just said.

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"I know, I know. I don't know what I was thinking. I usually think all the time before I do anything. However this time I just dove right into it. I thought it was the right atmosphere and the right time. Well I must have been wrong and I'm not usually wrong about things..."

Ginny stared as Hermione continued her rant. The poor girl. She was going to kill her brother the next time she saw him.

"Hermione do you want me to hit my brother for you?"

Hermione stopped mid sentence at Ginny's question. Then she collected her thoughts and answered "No thanks Ginny, I can handle your brother on my own. If anything like that happens again I can just the Bat-Bogey Hex on him."

Ginny smirked and responded "Now that is the perfect hex to use. Speaking about it reminds me when I used it on Malfoy, too bad I didn't get to see the results. I wonder what happened to Malfoy."

"Knowing Malfoy he's probably hiding off in his father's castle like the coward he is," Hermione said with a scoff.

"Hm, probably."

The two girls then prepared to get ready for bed and unbeknownst to them a few doors down was a certain Malfoy taking up temporary residence in the bathroom.

* * *

Draco leaned his head against the bathroom wall. He cursed at himself softly for his stupidity and banged his head repeatedly against the wall. But quiet enough that the other Weasleys would not be able to hear. He slipped up big time. Only an idiot would have made the reaction he had. Sure he had been terribly surprised, having Ganger put her lips on his...well on the Weasel's...was not something he expected. Though he should have thought that maybe the Weasel and Granger had already hit it off. They were always together at Hogwarts and it was either going to be Potter and Granger or the Weasel and Granger. Draco sighed, if the Dark Lord knew about these turn of events he would be cursed repeatedly. Draco glanced inside the bag he brought which contained even more of the Polyjuice Potion. He would have to be drinking more of it in the morning in order to retain this form. Draco wondered if overconsumption of the potion could probably have dangerous side effects but he pushed that thought out of his mind because the Dark Lord wouldn't be as stupid as to harm him, his greatest follower. Draco looked at the small window to see it was very dark out and it was probably time for bed. Draco walked out the bathroom with the bag containing the potion, the bag was small and not one that many people noticed. So the bag would not draw any attention. Also Draco had placed an Undetectable Extension Charm on the bag so it was able to contain a lot more of the Polyjuice Potion. Draco walked back up the stairs to his room and as he walked he saw everyone retiring to their bed.

"Night Ronniekins," said the twins in their usual teasing tone.

"Night Ron"

"Night Ronald"

"Night son."

"Night Ronnie"

By the time Draco had made it the 5th floor he had gotten a night greeting from everyone in the house but Ginny, Hermione and Harry. Draco figured Granger and the Weaslette had their rooms on the first floor and had probably already went to bed. Draco wondered where Potter was sleeping, maybe Potter stood watch outside the house for any Death Eaters. How tiring. And how very Potter. Potter the goddamn saint. Draco finally reached the fifth floor and opened the door to the room where he would be unfortunately sleeping in. Draco had a sudden nostalgia for his own room back at the mansion but he quelled the feeling and entered the room. Draco suddenly stop and stood staring at the person who was currently occupying half of the bed.

"Hey Ron, you're going to bed now?"

To bed...of course he was going to bed. Why would Potter care and what was Potter doing in this room. Draco wanted to ask but he did not want a repeat of the situation from earlier in which he said the wrong thing to Granger because of his cluelessness. Granger. Just thinking about her made his blood boil. The thought of the earlier sensation of her lips on his made him grimace internally.

"Yes Pot-uh Harry, I'm going to bed...are you?"

"Yes I'm quite tired. You must be too after getting kidnapped by Death Eaters then escaping. Don't know how you do it mate."

"Ok so umm let's retire to our beds then."

"Sure thing mate," said Harry with a smile. Harry pulled out his cot from a bag and laid it down on the ground of Ron's room. Draco stared at Harry with a panicked look on his face.

Harry couldn't be...This was his room...well the _Weasel's room. _Harry couldn't be possibly sleeping in here?

"Is there a problem mate, you look kinda sick," said Harry with a concerned look on his face. Draco felt almost nauseous at all the concern Harry was showing him. Draco had never had people concerned over him before besides his mother and Pansy. Not even his father looked at him that way even after a battle.

"_Draco when you show concern over someone else it only makes you weak."_

"_Never ever look weak. It only makes you vulnerable."_

"_So you never ever show concern Father?"_

"_I have not once in my life been concerned over anyone else. I would never stoop as low to care about someone who is weak. Remember that Draco."_

Draco cleared his head of the memory and reminded himself that the only reason Potter was showing any concern was because he thought he was Ron. If Potter knew who he actually was that concerned look would turn into a glare full of hatred. Draco decided to just go along with the fact Potter was sleeping in his room. He had already slipped up earlier with Granger. Though he hadn't slipped up enough to make Granger think Ron was actually Draco. However she was probably wary of him and on guard. And if he made Harry suspicious as well then Draco might as well kiss his Death Eater career goodbye. Draco walked around Harry's cot and tentatively laid down on the bed. The bed was way smaller than his bed back at the mansion. The nostalgic feeling from earlier returned and Draco suddenly felt like he was five years old again. He remembered the first time he had to sleep in a separate room from his parents. His father had felt that if he slept with his parents for too long he would only become weak. The first night in his own room was the hardest and he didn't sleep a wink and all he did was cry. Draco cursed himself at the memory and rolled his eyes at his childishness. He was old enough to sleep in any room on his own. Draco rolled on his side to face away from Harry sleeping on the cot below the bed. Draco knew that sometime right before dawn he would be changing back into his body and he couldn't let Potter see. Draco silently cast a charm that would wake him at the necessary time though he didn't think he would need it because he probably would not be falling asleep tonight. Especially with Potter only mere feet away from him.

What Draco didn't know was that Harry was not sleeping either. Harry had never been able to sleep since Voldemort's return and he was still feeling the guilt for allowing his best friend to be kidnapped. Also whenever Harry was fortunate enough to fall asleep he always had dreams about Voldemort or his friends being killed. So not sleeping was always the best option or not sleeping very deeply. Harry turned on his other side and asked, "Ron are you awake?"

Silence was the only response to his question. Harry didn't know how Ron could sleep if he had just gotten captured by Death Eaters a few hours ago but then again Ron had always been a deep sleeper. Harry sighed then closed his eyes and tried to let sleep take over and do its job.

* * *

Harry slowly woke up. He had a very weird dream last night involving Voldemort but unlike his previous dreams which involved Voldemort killing other people. This dream did not contain any murder but the subject was Draco.

"_My Lord, I understand that you have sent Draco on a mission. However my wife is really concerned about the whereabouts of our son. You know how women can be My Lord," said Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy._

_Voldemort chuckled darkly at the older Malfoy._

"_No, Lucius, I do not know how women can be. I do not care for such pathetic things like Muggles and ordinary wizards do. I am in a different league...I am Lord Voldemort," replied Voldemort._

"_Of course my Lord, but my wife..."_

"_SILENCE," roared Voldemort at the man. Lucius began to shake and he took slow steps backwards until he was backed against a wall._

"_Whatever I do with the boy is up to me. Not up to you or your wife. Draco is my disciple, my servant, he no longer belongs to you," said Voldemort with his red eyes seemingly turning a darker red. The color of blood. As Voldemort slowly approached the terrified Lucius the vision faded out and Harry woke up._

Harry looked up at the ceiling of Ron's room. What could that vision mean, if it was really a vision and not a dream. However if it was just a dream then why would he dream about Draco? Harry scrunched up his eyebrows in puzzlement. And what exactly was Voldemort using Draco for? Harry decided he would share this later with Ron and Hermione but for now he should get up and head down for breakfast. Harry got off his cot and sat up on the floor. He pulled out his wand from underneath his pillow and said the spell _Locomotor _which allowed him to place his cot underneath Ron's bed. Harry got up off the ground and stretched, then he stopped and blinked at the bed that was currently empty and didn't contain Ron. This was strange because Ron usually slept for a really long time and was a deep sleeper. Maybe Ron was just downstairs eating breakfast so Harry just left the room in search for Ron and of course a proper meal

* * *

The members of the Weasley family all stared curiously as Ron and Hermione avoided each other. The two who usually ate breakfast right next to each other were currently being separated by Charlie.

"Ginny can you please pass the marmalade," asked Hermione pleasantly.

"The marmalade is too far for me to reach. It's right next to Ron, you should ask him," replied Ginny cheekily.

All members of the Weasley family stopped what they were doing and turned to watch this development.

"I'm betting that Hermione will only last 30 seconds before she hexes Ron's freckles of," whispered Fred to his twin brother.

"Now now Fred, Hermione has way more self control. Now Ronald on the other hand has no such thing. I'm betting you Ron won't last 30 seconds without saying something stupid," replied George to his brother.

"Boys!," Ms. Weasley hissed to the two twins.

The two promptly shut their mouths and turned back to watch Hermione. Hermione very slowly turned to face Ron who seemed to be happily spreading marmalade on his toast. Ron didn't seem to notice the many pairs of eyes staring at him or he didn't really seem to care.

"Ronald would you mind passing me the marmalade?," asked Hermione in a overly pleasant tone.

"Certainly Hermione," replied Ron as he handed the marmalade to Hermione with a smile that to all others looked natural. However that smile was completely strained. Hermione blinked slowly at his reply, aren't they fighting?

The other members of the Weasley family just stared in amazement. Usually Ron was the first one to break, but he was playing the part of "ignorance is bliss" perfectly. Which was very unlike Ron.

"Maybe the death eaters gave Ron some lessons," said George.

"Polite death eaters, now that is a very funny thought brother," replied Fred.

Ginny giggled at the two while their parents just rolled their eyes in exasperation. Fleur seemed confused at everything that was happening and Bill had to lean over to whisper in his fiancee's ear about what was going on. Charlie looked like he wanted to run out of the room. This was understandable since he was right in the middle of the battlefield. He decided to continue eating his porridge and toast and hope that they would ignore his presence.

Hermione decided to just stare and bore her eyes into Ron's face. Hoping that he would show his real true emotion. However Ron just continued to eat his toast. Then he paused and put his toast down and with a smile he grabbed one of the green apples on the table. Draco thought to himself "Green apples finally" Then happily bit into his apple. Draco laughed internally at the looks on all the members of the Weasley family. Especially the look on Hermione's face, her mouth was slightly ajar and she was staring at him as if he had imps popping from his head.

After his slip up from yesterday Draco had decided it was better to just be overly nice to Granger so he could get her out of the way. He wanted to finish this mission as soon as possible. And it was Day 2 and all he knew so far was nothing of interest to Voldemort. He was going to try extracting information from Potter but the boy was sleeping. And he didn't feel like waking him up; waking up Potter felt like a chummy thing to do. And Draco certainly didn't want to get too involved with Potter than he already was. He knew too much now. Potter snored. A lot. Also he preferred sleeping on his back than his sides. Draco couldn't help but watch Potter during the night; just in case the boy somehow found out he was actually Draco and not Ron. He was slightly paranoid. But who wouldn't be when you were surrounded in a house full of your enemies.

Through Draco's whole internal monologue Hermione was staring at him out of the corner of her eye. Which Draco did notice but chose to ignore. Hermione was confused, something was definitely up with Ron. First he rejected her last night and called her that horrible name. Now he was acting like the whole thing didn't happen. Even when Ron and her were not fighting he certainly didn't act like this. Hermione narrowed her eyes slowly at the freckled faced boy. She would figure out exactly why he was acting so strange. She wasn't known as the brightest witch of her age for nothing.


	4. Confusion

Chapter 4  
Pairing: Draco/Hermione  
Setting: Pre Battle of the Seven Harry Potters, Deathly Hallows era  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series :(. JKR got to it first.

**A/N: All italics will be Draco's inner thoughts while someone else is talking. Thanks for reading my story. I would love reviews so I can review your stories as well. Thanks :)**  
**Also Sorry for the late update. I was wondering if you guys wanted me to continue the story with showing Ron's side or just keep it on Draco? Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. **

Over the past three days the routine was exactly the same. Draco would wake up and take some more of the Polyjuice Potion. Spend the whole day pretending...more like trying...to be Ron then the day would end and the cycle would repeat the next day. Every single day he didn't get any closer to learning anything. Harry was always nowhere to be found or making out with the Weaslette, forcing Draco to spend his company in the presence of the Ginger Twins. Which Draco supposed was better company than the rest of the inhabitants of The Burrow. Draco didn't want to be in the company of the Weasel's parents because that was just weird and uncomfortable. And the more time he spent in their company the more time he spent thinking about his parents and how they were nothing like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. And Draco tried not thinking about his parents too much - thinking about his parents made him think of home. His home that was currently being occupied by Death Eaters, random captured traitors, and of course the Dark Lord. Voldemort.

Then there was Fleur and Bill. Or as Draco liked to call them, Scarface and the Veela. Fleur on occasions tried talking to him about mundane things but Draco was never able to understand her. Her heavy french accent was cute but troublesome. Also wherever Fleur went so did Bill and Draco found it very hard to not stare at Bill's scars. Draco was also sure Bill saw him staring plenty of times but he didn't mention anything. Also there was Charlie, Mr. Damn Perfect. Everyone just seemed to love Charlie and it annoyed Draco. Of course Ron had to be the lesser of the rest of his family. Draco had after all guessed that the Weasel had to be black sheep of the family. Only thing he had going for him was Quidditch and that he was best friends with Potter. The Chosen One. Whoop-de-doo.

Then finally there was Hermione. Ever since he sat next to her at the breakfast table three days ago she hadn't spoken to him since. And Draco had to admit it was all his fault. If he hadn't misread the situation he wouldn't have gotten into that horrible germ swapping incident with Granger. Draco didn't care much for Granger at all but having her ignore him peeved him. In order for him to obtain all the information he wanted (whatever the information was) he needed to be chummy with Granger. The thought made Draco shudder...but it was the only way to get things over with. The subject of his thoughts was currently reading a book on a couch inside the living room. Draco walked over to where Hermione was and stood in front of her and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"Is there something you need Ronald?" Hermione asked coldly without even looking up from her book.

"I was err-wondering what kind of book you were reading."

"Hogwarts: A History," replied Hermione very curtly.

"Oh, I've read that book before. It's quite good you would enjoy it."

Hermione finally glanced up at Ron and glared at him.

"Ronald if you are trying to be funny it's not working. I know that you haven't touched a book in years and you also know that I've read this book over a thousand times. So please leave me alone."

Draco realized his error and winced internally. _Of course the dumb Weasel probably wouldn't be into books. _He had messed up yet again...the daydream of his parents being disappointed in him popped up in his head. He had to fix this now before his future was over.

"I didn't mean to make you upset, I was just joking around. But I wasn't lying about reading the book already."

Hermione cocked her head to the side and stared at him. Her stare was pretty unnerving and her eyes were such a deep brown the depths seemed to be endless. Draco froze at his thoughts...Granger's eyes were not beautiful they were muddy and dirty brown just like her blood. And he needed to remember that. Just because he was pretending to be Ron didn't mean he was becoming Ron. He was still him. He had to remember that.

She narrowed her eyes at him and then smiled slowly. Draco didn't know what the smile meant but whatever it was it could not be good.

"Who wrote the book?"

"Garius Tomkink."

"What do humans see if they look at Hogwarts?"

"Danger, Do not enter, Unsafe."

"Can human technology be used within Hogwarts?"

"No."

Hermione looked ready to ask Draco even more questions until they were interrupted by Harry.

"There you two are, I needed to talk to you about something."

"Is everything alright Harry?" asked Hermione with a concerned look on her face.

"For now everything is but I just was worried about something, follow me to the usual place," replied Harry as he turned to journey up the stairs with Hermione traveling behind him. Draco smiled slowly to himself...this was going to get interesting.

* * *

The trio were gathered in Ron's room on the floor. With Harry leaning against Ron's bed and Draco and Hermione sitting across from him. With a very big distance in between the two. Harry noticed how the two were avoiding each other but he decided not to bring it up unless Hermione started hexing Ron or worse...she started crying. Harry watched as Hermione was looking all around Ron's room and avoiding Ron next to her while Ron was absently looking at his nails and looking bored.

"So guys have you been noticing anything strange lately?" asked Harry tentatively.

"Strange?" said Hermione while Ron just narrowed his eyes...possibly in thought, Harry was not too sure.

_He doesn't know does he?...well if he did I would be hexed by now. _

"Uh what do you mean by strange?" asked Ron.

"Well haven't you noticed that the death eater attacks around this area have stopped all together? I think Voldemort is up to something," replied Harry.

"That is really strange." said Hermione.

"Well maybe he decided to back off for a while," replied Ron.

"Back off? Ronald this is Voldemort we are talking about," said Hermione with a laugh while she rolled her eyes at Ron.

"I'm sorry Miss Know-It-All just throwing out suggestions," replied Ron snidely.

"Well next time try throwing out better suggestions so the rest of us remember that you have a brain," said Hermione.

"Guys! Guys! Let's focus here. No matter the reason something strange is going on." said Harry.

Draco rolled his eyes internally..._Potter always trying to be the damn peace keeper. _

"I think Voldemort is planning something." said Harry

_Really Sherlock?_

"What it is I'm not sure but we should be on our guard. I think with the absence of Voldemort and his death eaters we should get to work on those horcruxes." said Harry. Harry suddenly felt like bringing up the dream from 3 days ago but it probably was not very important.

_Horcruxes? What were those..._

"Um guys my memory is kind of fuzzy on the horcruxes...I think the death eaters might have knocked some memory brain cells out of me," said Ron with an awkward chuckle.

"Really Ronald..." said Hermione with an eye roll. "Voldemort use the horcruxes to store parts of his soul so it makes it harder for him to die. We have to destroy all the horcruxes so we can finally kill him."

_I never knew about this...I knew the Dark Lord was protecting something...why would he hide this from us? _

"Oh yeah I remember now," replied Ron while Hermione glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

Hermione sighed. Ron had been acting so strangely ever since he returned. Nevermind the fact that he dared to call her a mudblood but other things as well. He didn't eat as much as he used to and he always seemed to be uncomfortable while around certain people. Also there would be times where he would just stare off into space like he was thinking deeply. And Ron never really did much thinking, well when he did it was always about mundane things. Something must have happened to Ron while he was with the death eaters. Hermione did not know what but whatever it was it could not be good. All she wanted was her Ron back.

"Well guys keep an eye out for anything suspicious...hm I wonder if anything is going on at Hogwarts..Neville has not sent me any word though," said Harry mostly to himself.

_Hogwarts...hm I wonder if the Dark Lord has something planned for Hogwarts. _

"This concludes our meeting. Remember to be wary of anything. And I'll let you guys know when we should start looking for horcruxes."

Hermione was the first one to leave the room and Harry followed behind her. Harry paused at the door and turned around "Ron aren't you coming lunch is ready."

"In a few Harry," replied Ron with a genial smile on his face. Harry nodded at him and as soon as Harry left the facade that Draco was trying to uphold disappeared. His face turned into a sneer, pretending to be Ron was taxing and he all he wanted to do was go home. Being around the Weasley's, Potter, and Granger made him feel like he was going insane. At least he finally had some information that he could send to the Dark Lord

Draco was not quite sure how he would be sending this information to the Dark Lord since he had no owl and nothing to message him with. He guessed for now he would keep the information to himself. Draco glanced around the room and sighed in disgust, his own room was much bigger than this.

_Oh well._

He left the room and headed downstairs to where lunch was being served and where the other members of the household would be. He left the Burrow to enter the kitchen was located towards the back of the house. Everyone was bustling around the kitchen and finding different things to eat. Draco just sat down at the table and waited for someone to serve him. No one seemed to even notice his presence at the table so he just rested his head on his hand and waited with a bored expression on his face. Hermione happened to approach the table on her way to brag something close to him.

"Serve me some food." said Draco loud enough that Hermione was able to hear him over the commotion happening in the kitchen.

However Hermione just ignored him, even though he was sure she heard him. Draco sighed...he did not want to pretend being Ron anymore. He missed the treatment he got back at the mansion.

_At least the Weasel was being treated even more poorly._

* * *

Actual Ron's Pov

* * *

The past three days were all a blur for Ron. He would wake up dizzy and disoriented and only get a small glimpse of his surroundings. Every single time he would wake up to be covered in green sheets and there would be a voice. He knew it belonged to a female but to which female he wasn't exactly sure. However it was the same female who had came into his cell three days ago.

On occasions when he was able to stay awake for almost an hour he caught glimpses of what he believed to be an elf but Ron was never exactly sure. Whatever the creature was, that creature would force feed him food. In the beginning Ron thought that whoever these people were they were probably trying to poison him. However he felt no effects on his body so gradually he began to stop fighting against the food and his stomach. He felt like a traitor for giving in so easily but then again one of the greatest pains was hunger.

Ron stared up at the ceiling and tried to lift his arms but the numbness in them forced them back down. He had lost a lot of blood and wherever he was he knew that he was being cared for. However he wasn't sure why they were even bothering to if they captured him. Weren't they supposed to kill him? He was the best friend of Harry Potter after all. Maybe they were keeping him for a bigger purpose and whatever it was Ron certainly knew he would take no part in it.

Suddenly the door opened and this time Ron was able to see what the creature was. It was indeed an elf...a house elf by the looks of it. Wearing a ragged shirt and with no socks on it's pale feet. The elf approached the bed and laid down the food on the table next to Ron and helped Ron sit his body up. Ron wasn't able to do anything due to the numbness of his limbs so he instead complied with the actions of the elf. Ron wondered if maybe the elf could understand him, many elves he met did not know any english and maybe this one did not either.

"Why am I here?" Ron croaked out in what was supposed to be an angry yell but instead sounded quite the opposite.  
"Oh! Master Weasley sir, you are awake...Serawi thought you would not get you strength back. Sir was very weak. Serawi is glad."

The elf had not answered Ron's question and Ron was far from being annoyed.

"Why am I here?"

"Serawi does not know. You must ask the Mistress. She knows everything sir. Serawi is sorry she cannot be of service."

"Get your mistress and bring her here."

"Mistress has gone shopping. Will be back later sir."

Shopping? Who would go shopping at a time like this. Ron let out a huge sigh and laid back down on the pillow. There was currently no way of escaping with the way his limbs were useless and for all he knew there was probably tons of death eaters waiting outside.

For now all he could do was wait and hopefully Harry and Hermione would be here soon.

"Mister Weasley sir please let Serawi feed you."

Ron slowly nodded and opened his mouth as the elf fed him. Ron knew what he was probably doing was idiotic...trusting the enemy and depending on them but he had no other choice. And the elf seemed to bear no ill will.

"Sleep now Master Weasley sir."

And at those words Ron did indeed fall asleep.

Serawi the elf picked up the tray of food and went to leave the room. When the little elf opened the door there her mistress stood with a tired expression on her face.

"Did he eat?"

"Mistress you are back and Master Weasley sir did Mistress."

"Good good...did he ask any questions?"

"Master Weasley sir wanted to know why Master Weasley sir had to be here."

Serawi's mistress sighed and went to enter the room. She glared at the body on the bed and seemed to curse silently in her head. Serawi just stood at the door patiently waiting for her mistress' next command.

"You can stop the sleep potion in his food now Serawi."

"Ok mistress."

"You may go now."

At that command Serawi left to the room to go about doing other duties. The mistress leaned down and whispered into the sleeping Ron's ear "You will know all in good time Weasley" and then silently closed the door and exited the room.


End file.
